Definition:
Pertaining to the measurement and analysis of ancient tree rings todetermine environmental conditions during that tree's lifetime andextrapolate that to climatic conditions. The study of tree rings related topast climate conditions is called dendroclimatology. Variations in tree ringwidths from year to year are recognized as an important source of chronologicaland climatic information. The width of a tree ring is a function of manyvariables including tree species, age, availability of stored food within thetree, soil nutrients, and climatic factors such as precipitation, sunshinetemperature, winds and humidity.